So...Why Are We Here Again?

I recently sent out an email message to friends asking what they thought about the whole 'why are we here'question. I got a great quote back from my friend Jason. It's by Kurt Vonnegut:

'To help each other through this thing, whatever it is.'

Boy that says it, doesnt it? That's all I'm actually certain of myself...the helping each other and the 'whatever it is.' I mean, who really knows? There are those of us who feel a certainty about what this is all about but, come on, how can we have any certainty? We can't. We can have faith or hope in something we really want to be true, but there is no way to prove our individual beliefs. So why do so many try to? Why are there wars being fought right now based on differences in belief? I'll never get that. You can try to explain it to me -- many have. But I will never ever comprehend it. Not in this life.

I wish the rest of humanity were content with all the big question marks. Why do there have to be answers? Can't kindness be our religion? Can't gratitude be our hymn? Is there room for self-sacrifice in our dogma? Penance, if you really need that kind of thing, could be a smile: a genuine one. What about a temple of trees and sky....big enough to hold ALL our gods? A shrine of living people, doing good deeds, a sacred text of silence, unwritten, holding only promise and expectation as its commandments. A jihad of blissful, indiscriminate giving. ....

Don't get me wrong, I am a believer: a 'Believer' with a capital 'B' - a believer in a Greater Being who is LOVE, who once walked this earth in human form, a believer in goodness and kindness and souls that live forever and are part of a Oneness we can't always see here. But this is just my point of view, and I certainly can't prove it. I can offer evidence from my own life, but that's it. And I have room for others' points of view. That's what makes this whole experience so fascinating......all of us seeing a different side to the Elephant, no one seeing the whole. I like that.

I wish there were more room for differences. I wish we all reveled in unanswerable questions.

Guten Morgen Deutschland!

So, Anastasia and I are on our first big trip (aside from Russia, that is.) We left home on the afternoon of August 31st, My friend Carley drove us, and Anastasia was surprisingly talkative with her, asking questions about her daughters Kate & Jayne. At Logan, we boarded out flight to Philly, after having to ditch our water bottles and hand cream ( stupid terrorists!). Anastasia threw a little fit for the security people, but I managed to distract her before they booted us from security!

Philly airport is surprisingly large. It took us about forty minutes to walk to terminal A for our flight to Germany. Anastasia does not like walking, so you can imagine the whining. Then, as if the gods were in a mischievous mood, our flight was delayed. And delayed. And, again, delayed.
We ended up in the air at about 8:45pm and had a fitful, uncomfortable ride the whole way. Anastasia was not happy - she hated the food, the people seated behind us, the constant interruptions for food and drinks. She finally nodded off fifteen minutes before we landed.

We landed in Frankfurt at 8am on the 1st (yesterday) and my brother Jim met us in baggage claim. Our plan was to drive straight to the Czech Republic, where my sister-in-law was waiting with Tommy ( my nephew). Jim would stop at a few places along the way for Anastasia to see. First stop was Wurzburg to visit a castle that sits high above the city. At the outdoor cafe there, Anastasia ate her weight is sausages..lol. My brother was great with her and they had alot of fun teasing each other. We then left and drove another four hours, and finally hit the Czech border. Anastasia was excited to get her passport stamped. Finally we arrived in Pilsen where we headed to Jana's dad's house. Tommy was so excited to see us! Soon we'll head to the campground where we'll be staying, in a little log cabin!